What they said: Pete Carroll

Here’s some of what Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had to say after today’s 20-13 win over Tennessee:

Opening statement: “Playing a really good football team in Tennessee, we kind of made it rough on ourselves today. We could have had a better day of it, but some stuff got away from us. The ball was greased today. I haven’t seen that many fumbles and that many mishandles and stuff and it really gave them a chance to get in the game and we could have controlled it earlier. We made enough mistakes to make it a close game, but we functioned pretty well on offense. We moved the ball great, and we did better on third defense. On defense, we stopped them all day long, without giving up a touchdown for the day, which in the NFL is awesome to do that. We did some really good things; it was kind of a game of situations that kind of messed with us having a better time of it. We get out of it, it was a good win over those guys We’re done with the AFC, and we have to get cranked up and get ready for Thursday Night already. I’m glad our guys came through. I thought some guys did some really good things, in particular Russell, I thought played a terrific football game today. He threw for a bunch, completed a bunch, ran for a good amount as well, and just played football. You could see him making things happen and coming through in a lot of really crucial situations for us. Our third down numbers were better on both sides of the ball; not great, but they’re better. We looked like we were functioning better. Without the scrambles, we would have done really well on defense today, but those got away from us a little bit. It looked like a total collapse at the end of half. It was really my call, the way I screwed it up. We should have just gone for it, and not worried about those guys. We thought those guys would handle it well, they had plenty of time; they practiced enough, we thought, but it didn’t look like it. I would take that back in a heartbeat. Fortunately, we won the game and we get out of it, and that’s the way we deal with it. The guys did a good job at halftime, they didn’t give me a hard time about it, they just came out and played well and put together a good second half to get a win. It’s kind of how that went.”

On eliminating the big plays on defense: “They did a really good job. They stayed on top the whole time, did a nice job. The one play that got out, they had another shot at us one other time, but throughout the game they did a very good job. They couldn’t run the ball at all, which was great. It’s a good front, and a good offensive line, and a committed running team, and so that was great to shut them down like we did.”

On Brandon Browner not playing much in the first half: “Just gave him a break. We have plenty of guys to play and I wanted to make sure we were fresh and going and I had a chance to talk to him about some of the stuff that was going on in the first half. We were happy to put Walter in the game, and give him his playtime. That’s all.”

On the concerns he has about the offense: “We had some untimely penalties in there. I would like to see our third down numbers better; we need to be around 50 percent if we’re doing it right. I think we’re making it through right now. Zach will be back next week for sure. He was all but ready for this one, that will be great to get him back. The other two kids will come back in a couple of weeks. Percy is coming around the corner. We have some guys that are going to juice us up a little bit here in a couple of weeks. It ain’t going to change right away. Zach will be the first guy back. I think we need to keep getting better, and keep improving. They made some plays today, you might look at some balls like we dropped them; they defended them, and made a couple of nice plays on Golden. So, give them some credit, too. We had 400-something, and they had 200-something. I kind of like what happened today in that regard.”

On whether the struggles inside the red zone are because Zach Miller is out: “No, I don’t think that’s it, I don’t think so. I think we made a couple of errors. We fumbled the ball for like a 12 yard fumble; I don’t know how that happened. That was what was so alarming today was that the football was so loose. Sidney made a terrible lunge with the ball and gave them the football. Marshawn got it knocked out. That’s just too many loose footballs for us, that’s just not the way we play. So, we’ll be all over that one for sure.”

On the play of the offensive line: “Solid. A good job of pass protection. They gave Russell a ton of time. He was able to sit back there and see what he needed to see, and ran when he wanted to, as opposed to when he had to. I thought he handled all of that well. I thought that was our best pass protection day in the last few weeks. I think Max had something to do with that for sure. ”

On what he would have done differently at the end of the half: “Yeah, just not to put those guys out there. Just go ahead and take one more shot with two seconds left, and not make (Maragos) and those guys have to do that. That’s a lot of pressure on those guys, and we didn’t handle it very well, obviously. We couldn’t have handled it any worse, as a matter of fact. I put them out there, they didn’t have to be out there, I shouldn’t have done that.”

On whether Maragos had been designated as the backup holder: “That’s under question right now, don’t you think? I think the next time out, Russell’s going to handle that.”

On Marshawn Lynch helping in the passing game: “That’s just what happened, just what was there today. He’s a very good pass receiver and we prepare him to be involved in all the games. He just got a few more great plays. The throwback to him was a pretty exciting play in the game. He’s very capable to help us in the passing game.”

On the injury to Chris Clemons: “A hyperextended elbow. X-rays were negative, he has a sore elbow right now. Coming back on Thursday, that might be hard. We’ll see what happens.”

On other injuries: “A couple guys got nicked. Kam’s ankle is sore. Hauschka got a bloody nose. I’m not making any kicker innuendos here, he got a bloody nose. Other than that we just got knocked around a little bit.”

On whether he knew whether Hauschka could play in the second half: “They were saying that he was, but I didn’t believe it until he went out there. We were all the way up until that decision, and the first chance to kick a field goal; I was giving him time to go one way or the other. They said he was fine, he did a good job. It sounded like he had a pretty good hit, that knocked him; I didn’t get to see it.”

On the conversation he had Brandon Browner: “I just told him we’re going to go with the other guy for a little bit here. I couldn’t wait to tell him at halftime that he was going back in to start the second half. He’s an excellent football player. He answered it and went at it and did a nice job in the second half. They tilted some balls at him all of a sudden there, they were going after him. I just wanted to give him a break, that’s all.”